Conversations with Trees, Westonbirt 2017

Why I did this project

Trees are my solace.

Trees speak to me. They speak to us; their wisdom comes through roots from ground walked on by all our suffering and our joy. I had the idea of Conversations with Trees, a series of poems written for specific trees. I wanted to position this poetry in a natural setting, for it to be part of the tree, a piece of art.

A forest of poems has been written about trees but surprisingly, few poets have ever displayed their poems within trees.

The ideal place for my poetry was the National Arboretum; Westonbirt has half a million visitors a year. I approached Ben Oliver (Learning & Participation Manager) at the arboretum and, to my delight, he suggested my poems could be placed on the 2017 Silkwood Autumn Trail. This began a year-long close collaboration with Westonbirt which became my second home. I am very grateful to the team at Westonbirt for their support and faith in me as an aspiring poet.

The website looks great because of the help of Mark Sutton, father to my good friend Anna. As you can tell he is a professional web designer but, more importantly, he is very enthusiastic about the project and generous with his time.

I tried to make an inexpensive installation but the banners still cost thousands of pounds. I am eternally grateful to the Snowdon Trust who awarded me a grant. Thank you in particular to Paul Alexander (chief executive officer) and Mandy Edwards (administrator) for their warm response and enthusiasm when I first approached the Trust.